BC-UncagHf Firming. Saturday, May 15, 1999 LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff REINHOLDS (Lancaster Co.) Ask Harold Moyer to name the presidents and their opponents from the early 1900 s until the present Ask him about the trolley that ran between Ephrata and Lebanon where milk receiving stations were located along the line. Ask him about Pennsylvania's 213 covered bridges, about trac tors and machinery, and how they changed during die century. Harold knows all these answers plus many more from rummaging through old postcards. As Moyer flips through some of the postcards from more than 100,000 in his collection, he said, “I always was a history buff, so this is really down my alley.” Postcard collecting is a favorite pastime for the retired farmer and his wife Ruth, who live in the Reinholds area of the county. The Moyers’ interest in post cards stems back 25 to 30 years, when Moyer was given a box filled with memorabilia from his grand mother. He and his wife were intrigued with the postcards that Postcard advertisements such as this one picturing Sharpies Cream Separators of West Chester were a popular form of advertising in the early 1900 s. g* , -*>%! •» Hit ,|j f , ,j.|| |, k i %, q| >s |»l In the early 1900 s, Hers hey Company, which farmed 8,000 acres, packaged a post card with each candy bar. This shows the interior of one of the company’s barns and milking machines. Postcards Open Window To pictured local and political scenes. They started looking for postcards when they attended public auctions. “Years back, cards were cheap,” Moyer said. Today some postcards can bring several hundred dollars. Generally these are postcards with real photographs of historic signi ficance rather than artist render ings. When buildings are changed or tom down, postcards of the buildings become more valuable. “The postcard craze was between 1906 and World War I,” Moyer said. During those years, few people had telephones, so communication between friends and family members of other households was done primarily by written postcards. Before television, children spent hours looking at postcard collections that parents, grandpa rents, and acquaintances stored in albums and boxes. Postcards offer historical glimp ses of the past. They show how our ancestors lived, traveled, played, and were entertained. Postcards show hundreds of buildings no longer in existence. These cards reveal how bustling 'i } < sf ' i ' y < f * -I < -L - TFR, PA. Vv t I businesses once contributed to the significance of the area. Postcards show such scenes as a horse-drawn bakery truck, typical in many communities that had their own bakeries. Railroad sta tions, general stores, curb markets, canal barges, ferry boats, chur ches, machinery, vintage signs, trolley and train stations, devastat ing fires, and other significant events are captured on postcards. Generally local merchants were responsible for publishing many hometown views. “If it wasn’t for postcards there would be no documentation of many of these places and events,” Moyer said. Some postcards are of a more personal nature. On one, a unique wedding announcement pictured Mr. and Mrs. John M. Hoober, a bride and groom. The write-up on the card includes these words: “...I, the groom, am in the company with my father who is one of the leading cattle dealers in the coun ty. My end of the job is driving bulls, steers, hogs, etc. around to the farmers. . . The bride is an accomplished young lady, well versed in washing, scrubbing, cooking, etc; and can cook water without scorching it. . . .” Messages scrawled on the back of postcards add to the value of the card. Messages are sometimes interesting, humorous, and occa sionally were written in Pennsyl vania Dutch. Postcards first became popular in Europe. According to Moyer, the first postcard issued in the U.S. was May 13, 1973. Before 1907, postcards did not have a divided back. After 1907, a line differentiated between the spot to address the card and the place to write a message. During the early years, it was not uncommon for a mailcarrier to pick up mail at one home and deliver it a few houses down the road on the same day. He hand cancelled the stamp. When the Moyers first became interested in postcards, they col lected local scenes and towns. “Now we collect everything," Moyer said. Ruth categories every card. In addition to cards capturing the his tory of an event or place, other popular collections are comics, advertisements, and holidays. Ruth has holiday cards of typi cal holidays such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day, but she also has rare cards of April Fool’s, Ground hog Day, and Labor Day cards. Although Ruth has both a 20-drawer and a 16-drawer filing cabinet made especially for cata loging postcards, and meticulously files each card, she said that her “The postcard craze was between 1906 and World I,” said Harold Moyer. He and his wife Ruth have collected more than 100,000 postcards. “If It weren’t for postcards there would be no documentation of many places that no longer exist,” Moyer said. He considers postcards as an excellent source for learning history. {J <i 'H husband “got a computer in his head or I would forget which ones we have." Scpti cards, linen, white bor ders, photochrome, leather, are all descriptive of postcards used in different years and help today’s collectors determine the age of the card and its authenticity. i if^fii.p. This collection of postcards featuring chickens was com piled by Ruth for an exhibit at a monthly meeting of the Lan caster County Postcard Club, where members buy, sell, and trade postcards. \ Wo^SSim^ Some postcards were not com plete alone. Some required four cards to complete one picture. In these, the sender would mail one card every day or every week in order for the set to be completed. Other unusual postcards included the mechanical card with a turn * - »>V, ♦ (Turn to Pag* B 8) liL.#.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers